by Raquel R., Launch Instructor I went to a relatively small junior high school with only 80 students in my graduating class. As I entered the seventh grade, I anxiously received the scoop from the older and wiser eighth graders. They let us in on what we had in store in regards to our teachers. Everyone wanted to get the English teacher who was always talking about retiring. His class was always full of anecdotes about his childhood in Brooklyn and paying five cents for a Coca Cola. The history teacher from the corner classroom was ranked number two. She was a champion storyteller; without fail every day for 45 minutes you would be transported back in time. But the most talked about teacher by far, was the infamous villain - the math teacher. Word around school was that he was strict and tough. There were no shortcuts with him and no messing around. I remember sitting that first day in his class thinking, "Oh boy, this is going to be one long year." But sometimes reputations can be deceiving. This teacher was in fact not a villain, but an inspiration. He taught me to set my expectations high. Math was not only necessary and understandable - but enjoyable! My class notes were filled with a language of symbols, numbers, pictures and letters. Math became a puzzle I took pride in solving. My teacher used fun and engaging ways to explain the subject – such as images and songs. I remember years later when taking my SAT's, silently singing "Solid, solid as a point on a line, use it, when you see the equal sign," when answering a math inequality question. I can't pinpoint the exact moment I fell in love with math. But I do remember that after the year with that teacher I never saw math the same way. As I continue to be part of the Launch team as a math instructor, I can only hope to inspire the next generation to fall in love with math as I did.
